Digital modem links with reduced bandwidth include Inter Symbol Interference (ISI), which requires using a Linear Equalizer (LE) to invert the channel and reverse the Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) effect. However, a major drawback of using a Linear Equalizer is the effect of noise enhancement, which occurs due to the channel inversion. An alternative solution is to decode the received signal by using an MLSE (Maximum-Likelihood Sequence Estimation) equalizer (rather than a Linear Equalizer), which is non-linear and therefore, does not enhance the noise at the receiver's input. However, the implementation of an MLSE equalizer is more complex compared to an LE, since it requires longer memory to process many taps backwards.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for the equalization of a data channel with heavily ISI-induced signals, using a nonlinear equalizer with reduced complexity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for the equalization of a data channel with heavily ISI-induced signals, which does not enhance the noise at the receiver's input.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.